CMS releases 2014 National Health Spending Growth report

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) released its annual National Health Expenditures report for 2014 on Wednesday.

Conducted by the Office of the Actuary at CMS, the study concludes that since the Affordable Care Act’s passing last year, per-capita health care spending in the United States grew by 4.5 percent and overall health spending grew by 5.3 percent, respectively. Additionally, consumer out-of-pocket spending grew by only 1.3 percent in comparison to the 2.4 percent increase seen in 2013.

“Millions of uninsured Americans gained health care coverage in 2014,” CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt said. "And still, the rate of growth remains below the level in most years prior to the coverage expansion, while out-of-pocket costs grew at the fifth lowest level on record.”

Spending on prescription drugs grew by 12.2 percent last year in contrast with 2013’s minimal 2.4 percent growth rate. Much of the spending increase seen in 2014 was due to newly introduced specialty drugs that treat hepatitis C and other egregious ailments.

“Today’s report reminds us that we must remain vigilant in focusing on delivering better health care outcomes, which leads to smarter spending, particularly as costs increase in key care areas, like prescription drugs costs,” Slavitt said.

The Affordable Care Act granted 8.7 million Americans access to health care in 2014, bringing the insured share of the population from 86 to 88.8 percent.